Don’t Miss These 4 Critical Components of Great Email Marketing

Hey Friend!

I’ve wanted to do an email marketing episode for a while now, but it’s not the number one thing I teach. We spend 2-3 weeks on it inside Podcast to Profit, my group coaching program, because email marketing is one of two ways I teach my students how to nurture and create conversion.

I’ve come up with four things you don’t want to miss when it comes to email marketing. These four things have helped us consistently grow our email list: open rates, click-through rates, and conversion. Maximizing reach and engagement is crucial.

What I love about email marketing is that you’re not subject to any algorithm or filtering. Your emails are there. Whether someone sees your email or opens it, we can control it a little bit. Once someone opens your email, we are responsible for giving them these components to help them read it and click through to the things on which we’re driving them to take action.

It’s incredible. Email marketing is cost-effective; you can start email marketing for free. It also has a high ROI. The time you spend writing an email is small, while the return and engagement are high.

A stat from the Data & Marketing Association states that email marketing has an average return on investment (ROI) of $42 for every dollar spent. That’s amazing! As of 2001, there were approximately 4.1 billion email users, which is projected to be 4.6 billion by 2025.

The number of people using email is massive. Therefore, it’s essential to ensure your emails are effective: opened, clicked, read, and driving traffic.

Which Course in the Stefanie Gass School Is Right for You?

Are you wondering what your business should be? Are you wondering what your podcast should be about? Maybe you’re confused or have no idea where to start. Begin with Clarify Your Calling, a 30-day course to help you get clear on what your business will be. We go through four steps and it’s Biblically based. We will look at your skills, trials, and experiences and create one beautiful niche you can move into a business platform.

If you’re ready to start a podcast, check out my Bootcamp or start my podcasting course, Podcast Pro University. It gives you 12 steps to planning your show: how to record, edit, and launch your podcast with big success. There is no fluff. It gets you where you want to go in 30 days or less.

Lastly, if you have a podcast, your focus is now on growing your show, getting more downloads, and making money from your podcast. Your dream is to have a business model like mine, have a team, and begin to scale. I invite you to apply for Podcast to Profit, my six-month mastermind program for podcasters.

I’ve had many students gain success in my program. Some are six—and seven-figure earners. If you want to do it right and well, have me walk you through a scalable, God-centered, peaceful business, where you can be present for your family and make a profit!

Four Components of Email Marketing

These are things you must do; they are non-negotiable. You must include them in your email marketing if you want email marketing to be part of your strategy. I rate email marketing as number two. It’s tied for second with building community, after podcasting, for growing a business. 

When discussing the Stef Gass Simple Sales Funnel, we start with the podcast at the top. That’s how we get our leads. The next level is called Nurture, which is email marketing and community. The point of the funnel is how to make money through coaching or building an online course or program.

No fluff. We are here to be effective and efficient. We are done being everywhere all the time; doing less, but better. One thing I teach is email marketing once you have leads coming in through the podcast.

No. 1: Personalized Email Marketing

One of the biggest ways your email marketing is going to stand out is by being personalized. You can segment different lists so you’re talking to specific parts of your audience. I have 17,000 on my email list and we have segments: students, cold traffic, and lead magnets. There are cool things on the back end of the email campaigns so that it’s very personalized based on who’s coming into the email list at what time and from where. We can also look at our data to know what fires are happening so we can pour fuel on the right fires and not just throw spaghetti at the wall. 

There’s a study from Epsilon that says personalized emails have a higher open rate of 18.8%, compared to non-personalized emails at 13.3%. 

You’re creating a connection with your reader. Use their first name, add personal touches generated from market research (which I teach you in Podcast to Profit), and address people’s pain points. This makes people feel seen and heard. People always tell me, “I feel like you’re talking directly to me, Stef.”

I understand what it’s like to want to grow something incredibly God-centered with Kingdom impact but feel stuck, scattered, and burnt out. I was you. That is why I am able to personalize my messaging so that my emails are opened and digested and get you to do what you’re supposed to do (which is get you over to the podcast or into whichever course is going to solve your problem).

No. 2: Have a Clear and Catchy Subject Line

If your email is not opened, it doesn’t matter how beautiful it is, how hard you worked, or how awesome your buttons are. Nothing matters if your email isn’t opened. The key to having your email opened is the subject line.

It is essential that it is clear, concise (not too long), shows there’s value inside, and that it’s eye-catching. I love to include an emoji and preview text after the subject that gives more information on what’s in the email. 

Another thing to consider is testing because everyone’s audience is different. One strategy that works with my audience is using my personal storytelling.

No. 3: Effective Email Marketing Must Have a Call to Action (CTA)

Why are you sending emails? You’re not sending to share a story and then say, “Love you, Bye!” Think about why you read emails and why you open those you open.

What I’ve learned is that I want to create this combination in my email marketing of storytelling and value. My CTA is around those things I want my audience to care about and do. 

It says, “Come hang out where I am,” and links to the week’s episodes. That’s where I want my readers to go because that’s where we create vulnerable trust. 

I also want people to buy the solution they need. I offer three solutions: Clarify Your Calling, Podcast Pro University, and Podcast to Profit.

In my email marketing, I take the topic, use storytelling, and link to the shows for that week. Then offer that if people are ready for the solution, to go buy the solution. I’m not here to hide or shy away from making money. What I sell, I believe with all of my heart and soul will get people where they want to go.

The CTA should be short and sweet. With the emails we send each week, focus on one specific, clear outcome. 

If you don’t have a CTA in your email marketing, why are you wasting your time? The point is to drive your reader to do something.

For my business, we do have conversion from my email marketing, but we mostly drive back to the podcast because I sell on every episode. It’s where people get curious because they’re already hanging out with me.

Because most of my email list listens to the show, they’re hearing me on the podcast and watching me reinforce the things I want them to do through my email marketing.

No. 4: Optimize Your Email Marketing for Mobile

42% of emails are opened on a mobile device. You must check what your emails look like on phones. I’m super guilty of this. How do I know? Because I fail forward all the time. 

Ensure your emails look good on both desktop and mobile. If they don’t look good on the phone, people won’t open them anymore because they look unprofessional. If someone’s stuff looks weird, I’m not taking them seriously.

Why Are You Here?

Those are the four things I want you to focus on with your email marketing. These will not only encourage people to read your stuff but actually convert into customers. 

Vanity metrics are cute. How many followers do I have? How many people are on my list? Even downloads! But how many people buy at the end of the day? If we do not create buyers from the people who are casual followers, we have a problem. 

Are you here to be an online business owner? A CEO? Or, are you here to play? Are you here to go big or are you here to go home? Let’s stop being afraid of being powerful businesswomen for the Kingdom of God.

Stop playing small and get serious about what will create that path. When you join me as your coach and mentor in The Stef Gass School, I’m only asking you to do a few things, but I’m asking you to do them to the best of your ability.

What Do You Need?

I don’t make any of my students use social media at all. What I’m teaching you to do is start a podcast with lots of strategy and intentionality with a micro-micro niche. Then I’m going to show you how to use email marketing and the building of community to make your podcast stand out. We will elevate the podcast visibility so it grows the audience for you. I’ll teach you how to automate lead generation without spending a dollar. And then I’m going to show you how to actually make money. Big profit margin money with coaching or an online course. Lastly, I will teach you how to make sales.

All the other things, bells and whistles, etc. I’m not here for that. It’s a waste of your time, a distraction. Why do we do the things that we do? This is the number one question we should ask ourselves daily: “Why am I doing this?”

Data doesn’t lie. If you are doing a thing that is not producing a real result, by making a difference in your audience, leads, or profit, why are you doing it? Stop the madness!

Don’t Keep Starting Over

If you end up working with me, you’re going to hear only what is needed. What’s going to stretch you and make the journey difficult is that I will have you do less than what you’re used to doing. You’re going to think, “Isn’t there more? This is too simple.” I make you slow down your growth and execution process to make sure it’s done right, well, foundationally, and in a sustainable manner. 

The worst thing is to throw a bunch of poop at the wall and hope something sticks. Maybe that will net some money for you, but then it stops, and you start all over. I think the number one mistake people make is they continue to start over multiple times because they’re doing all the wrong things, looking for overnight success. It’s a lie.

In thirteen years as an entrepreneur, do you know how many times I’ve started and stopped and started again? It’s ridiculous. I could have avoided all that by slowing down, being intentional, prayerful, and serious about the steps I took to make a business that I only had to do once. I could lay down all the things that were time-wasters and were unfruitful, unproductive and didn’t actually bring in leads or dollar bills.

The data was there and I wasn’t being discerning. I was taking big, worldly actions trying to force my way to success. It absolutely failed time after time after time.

I Want to Help You Reach for the Stars

I share this because it can be easier than you think. Five years into doing business God’s Way, my life feels Heaven-sent. I can go on vacation and not have to work. When my kids are off school, I decide whether or not I work. My computer is off at 3 pm every weekday and I don’t work weekends. I have a team that is Kingdom-built and God-sent that I get to provide for and in return provides time back to me.

My business is incredibly successful and I don’t run it on Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok. I’m just podcasting! That’s the organic strategy I use. We have a community, and I use email marketing.

I hit multiple six figures organically from the podcast for multiple years. I want to teach you to do the same. If you’re still reading, maybe there’s a next step that’s right for you.

I love you and can’t wait to walk alongside you on this journey!

Thanks for being here, subscribing, and leaving a review. The reviews you guys leave truly are highlights in my week. I love to hear your favorite episode and how this podcast has helped you. Reviews bless me and help grow the show. If you haven’t left a review on Apple Podcast, it would be a blessing, and I would be grateful.

If you want to hang out with everyone else in Stef Gass’s world, join our Facebook group. We’d love to meet you and encourage you there.

I pray this blesses you!

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